This invention relates generally to a coupling nut assembly and, more particularly, to a removable captive coupling nut assembly which may be utilized, for example, in an electrical connector.
While the present invention will be described in connection with an electrical connector coupling application, it will be appreciated that it may be also employed for any other coupling application, such as for fluid conducting conduits or the like. In a conventional electrical connector, there is included a plug connector member and a receptacle connector member. Normally the plug connector member comprises a barrel having an internally threaded rotatable coupling nut mounted thereon which is utilized to interengage the receptacle connector member with the plug connector member. The coupling nut is normally retained on the plug barrel by means of a snap ring, which engages in axially aligned grooves formed in the outer surface of the plug barrel and the inner surface of the coupling nut. In order to assemble the nut to the barrel, the snap ring is contracted into the groove in the plug barrel. Thereafter the coupling nut is slid over the barrel, whereupon the snap ring will expand into the outer groove. Once the snap ring expands into the outer groove, the coupling nut is axially retained on the plug barrel and cannot be removed.
Since the coupling nut is permanently assembled on the plug barrel, if there is any requirement for replacement of damaged or defective elements, for example, the plug barrel or the coupling nut, the entire plug connector member must be replaced. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a captive coupling nut assembly which allows the coupling nut to be removed from a barrel upon which it is rotatably mounted and axially retained by a snap ring. It is another purpose of the invention to provide such a removable captive coupling nut assembly in which the coupling nut may be removed from the barrel without the use of any tool, so that disassembly of the parts can be conveniently accomplished in the field.